The Right Decision

Due to the local ramp being packed with people today, I decided on a small road trip to another body of water. Christiane & I thought that with the 100 Year Festivities scheduled, we should fish elsewhere. I’ve been hemmed in before at the boat ramp and knew it would be another one of those days with all the activities for the park area. She was, wanting another lunge but this time it would be on heavier tackle, if we were lucky! We arrived at a respectable 10:30 A.M. and were fishing by 11:00 searching for those hateful creatures. Winds were out of the SW at 5 to 10 knots making the heat wave almost bearable as we set the lines and waited. Somewhere around high noon the long line started that beautiful howl and we were locked! Christiane had probably one of the best battles she ever felt from these fish, for heavy tackle. The headshakes were incredible as she reeled the fish to the boat for me to boga. Although the battle lasted less than three minutes, we quickly landed and photographed the fish before release. I revived her and then let Christiane take over for the actual release. It would be the first time she actually held one in the water and finally knows what they are like when ready to go. As with all hateful creatures like these, she was left with a face wash! A small price to pay for getting to play with one of these I guess! We trolled for almost 90 minutes more with nay a touch and realized that we were lucky to have gotten even the one. I packed everything in and decided to try a couple of places for smallies instead. The first spot didn’t seem to have any life on it at all and I spent very little time looking for the bass. I hit another area a short distance away and just like the first place, it seemed void of fish. Christiane did manage to get one to commit to the jig however and was soon battling a smallie over 5 pounds. I knew it was big when it took to the air a couple of times. Once in the net though, I realized it was more like 5 ½ and not just five. If you’re only going to get one, this was definitely the one! We tried a little longer in this section and still never saw any fish. Off to another location and hopefully better results. Unfortunately the last couple of places were both the same. I really didn’t feel like running all over the lake to places I knew held fish, so we just packed it in. Christiane was satisfied with her day, catching a couple of trophy fish. We had accomplished what we had set out to do with the troll and the bass was just a bonus. By 3:00 we were leaving the water and with approaching weather on the way, glad to be on the road. Overall, a very relaxing and satisfying day!!